Edge drive belt



March 26, 1940. REEVES 2,195,226-

EDGE DRIVE BELT Filed March 7, 1939 INVENTOR. ,2 aw/ Zieerea BY a .a TTORNEYS Patented M1... 2c, 1944 UNi'rsn. 5 m

rare-NT OFFICE V 2,195,226. EDGE DRIVE BELT Paul B. Reeves, Columbus, Ind, assignor to Reeves Pulley Company, Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application- March '1, 1939, Serial No. 260,346 7 Claims. (01. 74-437? at minimum effective diameters, but. which shall be so constructed as to minimize the noise or dinarily caused, in belts of the general classification to which the present belt belongs, bythe intermittentengagementof the ends of the transverse stiffener blocks with theconed surfaces of the ,pulley discs. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my. invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawing is illustrative only, and that changemay-be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so'long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated. I Fig. 1 is a fragmentaryplan of a belt constructed in accordance with the present invention}.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof, taken substantially upon the line. Z- -Z'of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a leaf element from which the lateral friction strips of thebelt are made up; and

Fig. 4 is a-longitudinal section taken substantially on the line ;44; of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows. v

While edge .drive .belts are used in many organizations, one of the most important uses for such belts is invariable speed transmissions of closely about'small diameter pulleys, transverse 45 rigidity to prevent lateralbuckling of the belts between the discs :of thepulleys, and a high coeffic'ient of friction at the-lateral edges of the belt.

In an effort to' meet "these requirements, the structure of the patent to M. O. Reeves 581,770 issued May 4, 1397, was produced; and that structure was used with reasonable success for many years. Somewhat later, it was found desirable to tip the ends of the transverse stifiener blocks with leather, or similar material, in the manner disclosed, for instance, in the patent to M. O. Reeves 1,446,017 issued February 20, 1923.

. A defect of belts of the character disclosed in those patents lies inthe fact thatthe lateral frictional surfaces are discontinuous; so-that they are subjected to a pounding effect which tends .to harden and glaze the frictional material, and

which furthermore isobjectionable becauseof the necessarily attendant noise. An effort. to over-, come these defects was made and is exemplified .in the patent to- Paul B. Reeves 1,862,198 issued" June 7, -l932. According to that patent, a continuous friction strip'is set into each lateral edge of the composite belt, between the project-- .tigued rather early in'their lives, and lose their .tics are materially damaged.

ready flexibility, whiletheir frictional characteris- I I have now devised an improvement over the belts of the aboveementioned patents, substiof Patent 1,862,198, friction strips built up of a plurality of longitudinally overlapping elements, each of said elements being at least as thin as the main web of the belt,'each-'of. said elements being relatively short, but the thickness of the strip composed of such elements being everywhere materially greater than the thickness of the main web.

Referringmore particularly to the drawing, it

' will be .seen that I have illustrated a belt of the general character of those illustrated in the above-mentioned patents. Said belt is made up of a main web Ill of high longitudinal tensile strength, but of ready flexibility. Said web is transversely stiffened by a plurality of pairs of stiffener blocks ll and I2, said blocks beingsecured to opposite surfaces of the web I 0 in pairs,

as illustrated, the pairs of blocks being longi so tuting for the continuous lateral friction strips of a pair and through the web, and nuts [4 being applied to the bolts to secure the assembly. Preferably, the projecting ends of the bolts l3 will be riveted over against the nuts after the assembly has been completed.

The ends I6 and I! of the blocks II project laterally beyond the edges of the web I0, as do the ends [8 andl9 of the blocks l2, it being noted, however, that the projections of the blocks l2 are less than the projections of the blocks H, whereby the lateral surfaces of the block pairs are tapered inwardly. The adjacent faces 20 and 2| of the block ends I-B'and H! are relieved, to form a cavity or socket 22 havinga depth or thickness greater than thethickness of the web It). Similarly, the faces 23 and 24 of the block ends I! and I9 are relieved to form a cavity 25 having a depth greater than the thickness of the web 10.

Near its extremity, the face 20 is formed with a socket 26, and the face 2! is formed with a mating socket 21, the sockets 26 and 21 being preferably vertically aligned. In the same way,

the faces'23 and 24 are formed with mating sockets 28 and 29.

In the sockets 25 formed between the ends I! and 19 of the various block pairs, is snugly received a friction strip, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3|]; and an identical friction strip indicated generally by the reference numeral 3l,-is received in the sockets 22 formed between the ends l6 and I8 of the block pairs. Since the strips 3!] and 3| are identical, only one will be described.

Each 'frictionstrip is built up of a plurality of identical leaves 32. Each leaf is tapered from its end 33 to its end 34; and each leaf is likewise tapered from its outer surface 35 to its inner surface 36. The extremity of the end 34 is further beveled transversely, as at 31, from its surface 35 to its surface 36.

A hole 38 is formed in the'end 34; and near the end 33, each leaf is formed with a buttonhole 39 communicating, by a slot 40, with a hole 4|, substantially at the mid point of the longitudinal dimension of the leaf; and communicating, through a slot 42, with a hole 43 in the end 33.

The leaves are assembled in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and .4, being fastened together by rivets 44. Each rivet 44 comprises a head 45, a head 46, and an intermediate collar 41; a washer 48 preferably being mounted adjacent the head 46.

In Fig. 4, three leaves 32a, 32b, and 320 are shown assembled. It will be seen that the leaf 32a overlaps the mid portion of the leaf 32b and the end portion 34 of the leaf 320. The three leaves are connected together by the rivet 44 which passesthrough the hole 380 of leaf 320, the hole 4|b of leaf 32b and the hole 43a. of leaf 33a. The next adjacent rivet tothe left in Fig 4 passes through the hole 381) of leaf 3212, through the hole am of leaf 32c, and through the hole in the end 33 of another leaf (not shown) which I would be superposed upon the leaf 32a and which would project toward the left therefrom. The next adjacent rivet to the right projects through the hole in the end 34 of a leaf projecting toward theright, only a fragment of which is shown, through the hole Me of the leaf 32c, and through the hole 432), of the leaf 3217.

Each of the rivets 44 has its head 45 received in a socket 28, and each of the rivets 44 hasits head 46 received in a socket 29.

It will be seen that each leaf 32 has its end 34 positioned in, contact with aface 24, below the plane of the web ID, has its mid portion sandwiched between the end 34 of an adjacent leaf to its right and an end 33 of an adjacent leaf to its left; andhas its end 33positioned in contact with a face 23. Each leaf, thus, spans three block pairs, and overlaps portions of two adjacent leaves, being, in turn, overlapped by two other adjacent leaves.

Because of the peculiar conformation of the leaves 32 the cross sectional shape of the composite strip is a truncated, inverted triangle, so that the exposed lateral edge of each friction strip tapers from its outer to its inner end.

The two strips 30 and 3| thus form. friction surface-s readily cooperable with a V-pulley.

While I have shown the lateral surfaces of the strips 33 and 3! projecting slightly beyond, and parallel with, the untipped end surfaces of the blocks H and I2, it will be understood that I may tip the ends of said blocks, in which case the exposed surfaces of the strips 38 and 3| may be either flush with, or parallel with and pro jecting slightly beyond, such tipped surfaces.

Because my friction strips are laminated, and the laminations are free to moveslightly with respect to each other, the strips flex readily as the belt runs around a-pulley, and said strips are not subjected to undue fatigue. As a consequence, I find that the life of the belt of the present application ismaterially greater than is the life of the belts of the above-mentioned patents; While the objectionable noise resulting from the pounding action of the pulley surfaces upon the ends of the stiffener blocks of belts like that illustratedin. Patent 1,446,017 is substantially eliminated.

Because the engagement of the heads 45 and '46 of the rivets 44 in the sockets formed in the adjacent faces of the projecting block ends prevents the strips 33 and 3| from working out of the sockets 25 and 22;"but because those sockets are somewhat larger than the rivet heads, slight movements of the rivets, and of the friction strips, with respect to the blocks H and I2 are possible, whereby wear and fatigue are minimized.

I claim as my invention: j

1. An edge drive belt comprising a relatively thin main web, spaced transverse blocks secured to both surfaces of said Web and projectinglaterally beyond the edges of said :web, and two strips of friction material carried by the opposite ends of said blocks and bridging therebetween, said friction strips having a relatively small dimension in the plane of the web and a dimension transversely of said plane substantially greater than the thickness of said web, and each of said strips consisting of a plurality of leaves, each leaf being tapered from end to end and from outer to inner surface, and each leaf having its wider end superposed upon the mid portion of another leaf and upon the narrower end of still another leaf.

2. An edge drive belt comprising a main web, a series of stiffener blocks secured to the opposite faces of said web in cooperating pairs, projecting laterally beyond the edges of said web, and spaced from each other longitudinally of said Web, and two friction strips associated with the edges of said web, each of said strips comprising a plurality of leaves, a portion of each leaf being superposed upon a portion of at least one other leaf, and each strip being received between the projecting portions of said stiffener blocks beyond one edge of said web.

,said wengandaifrictibmstrip:snugly;;1;eceived ibe- :tween :said faces .;'0f the projecting aportions r'of .3. .nniedgerdrive belt comprising .a zreadilyiflec- ,ible web of high tensile strength, :a plurality of, pairs of transverse stiffener-blocks securedito said web andspaced longitudinally thereof',r.the blocks-of each pair. beinggpositionedrespectively on the :outer and'inner faces iof said ,EWBb, the

' ends-of ssaidi lbloc ks"iprojecting 'laterally ibeyond the edges of :saidz'web, andvthe. distance between adjacent :faces of 'thesprojecting' portions :of the blocks or" eachpairebeing'greaterathanthe thick :re'ceived between?,saidiqfaces 40f .flllh e .;projecting l portions of "said;pairs ofibloc'lss beyond eachedge ible web icf highlitensile strength, ,a' plurality :of pairs of 'a transverse' stifffenerlb'locks secured to "said W693 and spaced longitudinally thereof, the blocks .of each pair ibeingpositioned respectivelyon the outer and rinner gfaces'of'lsaid web, the ends of of the web; said'strips being ,built n Jof a:plurality of -.elements, .each' at ,least as thin. as said web, and arrangedinflaminatedrelationf 1 i l. lAnedge drive :belt comprisingta'r'eadily :fiex

said blocks projecting laterally beyond the edges of said web, and the distance between adjacent -facesof the projecting -portions-l o;f':the blocks of each'pair'being greaterithan the thickness of said Web, and'a'ir'iction strip-snugly received between said faces of fthe'projecting portions of said pairs l-ofiblock's beyond eachedgeof, the web, saidystrips :be'ing builtfup o f a pluralityo felernentsyeachat least as thin as-rsaid web, ande ch overlapping Q .at'leastoneadjacent 'element i{ 5. An edge drive belt compr isi-ng a re'a'dily lfiex- I ible web of high tensile strength, a plurality of v pairs of transverse stiffener blocks secured to said Web'and spaced longitudinally thereof, the blocks of each pair being positioned respectively on the outer and inner'face's of said web, the ends of said blocks projecting, laterally. beyond the edges faces of the projecting portions of the blocks of of said web, and the di'stancebetween adjacent each pair 'beinggreater than the; thickness of said web, and av friction stripsnugly received I a between said faces of the projecting portions of 46 said web and spaced longitudinally thereof, the

blocks of eachpair being positioned respectively on the outerand inner face s or said web, the ends of said blocks projecting laterally. beyond the edges-of said web, and the .distancebetween adjacentufa'ces of the projecting portions of'the blocks of eachjpair being greater thanthe thick ness of said web, and airiction strip snugly received between said faces ofthe projecting portions ofsaid pairs of blocks beyond each edge of the web, saidstrips being built upof'a plurality of longitudinally extending elements, arranged in longitudinallyoverlapping relation, each of said e k elements being at least as thin assaid Web.

.' '7. An edgedrivebelt comprising-a readily fien- 1 ible web of zhigh tensile strength, a'plur'alityof pairs of transverse'stiifener blocks secured to said Web and spaced longitudinally thereof, the blocks ofeachpair beingpositioned, respectively on the outer and inner faces of said Web, the ends of said blocks projecting laterally beyond the edges, ,ofsaid wed-and the distance betweenadjacent .faces of theprojecting portions of the'blocks'of 76 each pair being greater than the thickness of said pairs 50f tblockszbeyond 'eachedge of e the wed/said strips gbeingbuiltiup' "of a plurality of {longitudinally extending elements, arranged inv -longitudi'n ally overlappingrelation, each'of said elements :being atleast :as .thin as said web; and

' each having -a longitudinal extent sufficient to .spanla't least two adjacent :blocl-zrpairsr 8-. An edge iclrive beltucomprismgareadilyflerre pairspf transverse stiffenerlblocks securedzto said ibleweb-of"highjtensile strength; a' plurality of web and 'spaoedflongitudinally thereof, the blocks outer and'inner' fac'es of said web,- the ends .01

of each pairbeing positioned respectively :on-the,

said zblocks projecting laterallybeyond the edges v .of said web, andthepdistance between adjacent 'ifacesuo'f the :rlrojactingEportiondoffzthe ,blocks :o'f each pair .beinggreater than the thickness OfFSaid.

saidfaces 'of theprojecting-pohtions of said' pairs cf blockslbeyondeach edge of theiwebiasaid strips being fbui'ltixup of arplurality of; longitudinally overlapping rel ation each of s-said elements; being at'least {as thin as said Web; and each-havinga longitudinalextentsuf icient ito spanfiat'least two, I [and notlmore thanithrea adjacent bilockszpairs.

'9.'An edge -drive belt c 'ompri'si-ng areadilyflex ,ible web of high tensile strength, aljpluralityof j pairs of. transverse fstiffenery-blccks secured, to

said web and-spacedlongitudinally "thereof, :the

blocks of. each pair-being positioned respectively j j 3 ontlie' outer ,an'd inn'e'r fa'oesof .said webjzztheie'nds of said blocksprojecting laterally beyond [the edges of said web, and the distance between ad-f jacent facesof the projecting portionsof the blocks of each pair being greater than the thickness of said v/ eb, and a friction strip. snugly received ibetween said'faces of the projecting eportions of said pairs of blocks beyond each edge of the web, each of said strips comprising aplurality of elements, each at least as thin as said web, arrangedin longitudinally overlapping re-' lation, and a plurality of rivets, each projecting through at least-"two overlapping elements and each received between. a pair of projecting block ends. I j I 10. An edge. drive belt comprising a readily flexible web or high tensilestrength, a plurality of pairs of transverse stifiener blocks secured to said 'web and spaced longitudinallythereof, the

blocks of each pair being positioned respectively on the outer and inner faces of said web,jthe ends of -said:blocks projecting laterally beyond the edges of said web, and the distance between adjacent faces of, the: projectingportions of the fextending' elements, arranged iin' longitudinally blocks of eac h'pair being greater than the thick- "ness of said web, and a friction str'ip snugly re -ceived between said'faces of the projecting 'porv hens of said pairsfof blocks beyond each edge 7 of the Web, ,each'-oi, s'aid strips comprising a plurality of elements, each at least as thinas said-web, arrangedin longitudinally overlapping relatio'n, andaplurality of rivets, eachproject ing through-at least-two and not more than three overlapping elements, and each-of said jecting block ends. I I

11. An edge drive belt comprising a readily rivets being positioned between a pair of-proflexible web of high. tensile strength, a plurality of pairs of transverse stiffener blocks secured. to

said web and spaced longitudinally thereof, the

blocks of each 'pairbeing positioned respectively on'the outer and inner faces of said web, the

web, and .a :frictionstrip snugly receivedbetween 4. v ends of'said blocks projecting laterally'beyond the edges of 1 said web, and the distance between adjacent faces of the projecting portions of the blocks of each pair being greater than the thickness of said web, and each of said faces being formed with a socket, and a friction strip snugly received between said faces of the, projecting portionsof-saidpairs of blocks beyond each edge of the web, each of said strips comprising a plurality I of "elements, each" at least as thin as' i said web, arranged in longitudinally overlapping relation, and a plurality of rivets, each project'- ing through at least'two overlapping elements and each having its opposite ends received in the sockets of ablock pair. w r 1 12. An edge drive belt comprising a relatively thin main web, spaced transverse blocks secured to said web andprojecting laterally beyond the edgesof saidweb, and two strips of friction ma- :terial carried respectively by the opposite ends of said blocks, said friction strips having a relatively'small "dimension in the plane :of the web anda dimension transversely .of said plane substantially greater thannthe thickness 'of said web, and each of said stripsconsisting of a plurality of leaves, each leaf being tapered from end to end and from outer to inner surface,

and each leaf having its wider end superposed- 1 upon the mid portion. of another leaf and upon the narrower endof still. another leaf.

13: An edge drive belt comprising a main web, a series of stifiener blocks secured to said web and spaced longitudinally of said web, and two strips of friction material carried respectively.

plane of the web,

by the opposite endsof said blocksiandprojwting laterally from said block ends, the overalllateral dimension of said blocks and strips being at leastequal to the lateral dimension of said web, and each of said strips consisting of a plurality. of leaves, each leaf being tapered from end to end and from outer to inner surface, and each leaf having its wider, endsuperposed upon the mid portion of anotherleaf and upon the narrower end of still another leaf. I

14. An edge drive belt comprising a main web, a series of stiffener blocks secured to said web and'spaced'longitudinally of saidweb, and two,

strips of friction 'material carried respectively by the opposite ends of said blocks .and propecting laterally from saidblock ends-the overall lateral dimension of said blocks and strips being superposed, ina "direction perpendicular to the upon a, portion of at least one other leaf. i 1 I 15. An edge drive'belt comprising a main web, a series of stiffener blocks securedto the opposite faces: of said web in cooperating'pairs,

. at least equal to'the lateral dimension of said web, and'each of said stripscom'prising a plurality of leaves, aiportion of each leaf. being 

